Cherub (Angel)

Biblical Texts

• The Garden of Eden: After the Fall, God drove the man out. At the east of the Garden of Eden He placed "Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life" (Genesis 3:24).
• The tabernacle and the temple: God commanded that two cherubim of gold be made at the two ends of the mercy seat, the lid of the Ark of the Covenant, with their wings covering the mercy seat, and He said that He would meet with Moses from between them (Exodus 25:18-22). Cherubim were also embroidered on the veil of the tabernacle (Exodus 26:31). In the Most Holy Place of the temple, Solomon set up two cherubim of olive wood overlaid with gold, each ten cubits high (1 Kings 6:23-28).
• The throne of God: The Old Testament speaks of the LORD as the one "which dwelleth between the cherubims" (1 Samuel 4:4; 2 Kings 19:15; Psalm 80:1). It also sings of Him as one who "rode upon a cherub, and did fly" (Psalm 18:10).
• Ezekiel's visions: Ezekiel saw living creatures with four faces and four wings (Ezekiel 1). He later identifies them as cherubim (Ezekiel 10:20). A lament in the same book also likens the king of Tyre to "the anointed cherub that covereth" (Ezekiel 28:14-16).

Terminology and Background

The word "cherub" derives from the Hebrew kerub (plural kerubim). The Korean term geurup is a phonetic transliteration of this Hebrew word and is unrelated to the English word "group." The etymology of the Hebrew term is uncertain. Winged composite figures guarding temples and thrones were common in the ancient Near East, and scholars sometimes compare the cherubim with such figures. Scripture never directly calls the cherubim "angels," but the church has traditionally understood them as a class of angels.

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

The cherubim are portrayed as beings who guard God's holy presence and attend His throne. In Eden they barred the way of entry to humanity; above the mercy seat they overshadowed the place where God met His people. The New Testament takes up this imagery. Hebrews 9:5 mentions "the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat" and interprets the tabernacle as a shadow of Christ's work. Romans 3:25 calls Christ a "propitiation," and the Greek word used there, hilastērion, is the same term Hebrews uses for the mercy seat. The "four beasts" (living creatures) of Revelation 4:6-8 evoke both Ezekiel's cherubim and the seraphim of Isaiah 6.

Interpretations and Debates

• Angelic hierarchy: Since the writings of Pseudo-Dionysius in the fifth or sixth century, a tradition has placed the cherubim second among the "nine orders of angels." This ranking, however, is not stated directly in the biblical text.
• The image of the infant angel: In Western art, the English word "cherub" came to denote a chubby winged infant. The cherubim of Scripture, by contrast, are depicted as majestic guardians.
• Connection with Satan: A widespread popular interpretation reads Ezekiel 28 as an account of the fall of Satan. The text itself, however, is a lament addressed to the king of Tyre, and interpreters differ on whether it should also be applied to Satan.
• The same beings?: Views also differ on whether the cherubim, the seraphim, and the four living creatures of Revelation are the same beings or distinct ones.